Title: The Beautiful Woman in the Pictures
Fandom: Xiaolin Showdown
Characters: Rai, Kim, Mirari (my OC)
Prompt: 076:Who?
Word Count: 741
Rating: PG
Summary: Raimundo tells a little girl about Kimiko
Author's Note: By far the saddest yet and I'll say it again too, take a box of tissues with you.
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"Pai!"
I raced up the stairs and went up to the attic where I saw a little girl that was four years old with a photo album spread across her legs.
"What is it, Mirari?" I asked her, fearing she might have hurt herself or something.
"Who's tis lady?" she asked me. I walked over to her in question and peered over her shoulder to see a Japanese girl with strange blue eyes that gleamed at the camera. She had two pigtails tied in her raven hair, and a smile that anyone can fall in love with. I smiled down at the picture and my heart warmed up. I sat down by her and picked her up and placed her on my lap.
"That, Mirari, was the most beautiful woman that Pai has ever seen," I replied with a solemn smile.
"Weally?"
"Oh yeah." I turned a page for her and it was a picture of the same girl with a brown hair boy with green eyes and sort of a cocky grin on him. It was the day we met.
"And who is tat?" she asked me again.
"That would be me, when I was a little bit older than you," I said with emphasis on little bit.
"Weally?" she asked me with those big eyes of her.
"Yeah."
"And tere's the lady again."
"Yeah, even with that hair she still was beautiful."
"Did you wove her, Pai?" she asked while looking up at me.
"I did."
"What happened?" she asked me. I looked down at her with stunned eyes. It's amazing that a four year old could ask a question like that.
"Well... Lets just say, we went our separate ways," I finally said while rubbing the back of my neck. I turned the page for her and it was the picture of when we first started dating. We were on the courtyard of the temple and Dojo was full sized waiting for us.
"Who's the gecko?"
I let out a snort.
"That's Dojo and he's not a gecko, he's a big dragon."
"A dwagon?"
"Yup, and don't ever call him a gecko, otherwise you'd be burn to crisp." She cringed up a little and her eyes show fear, I wrapped my arms around her. "Don't worry, if he ever gives you trouble, I'll throw a blast of wind at him." I demonstrated by blowing a breath of wind at some strayed papers that were on the ground and they blew up to the ceiling. She let out a laugh.
Then she turned the page and it was the day that we got married. She was so beautiful then, it was breathtaking.
"You mawwied her?"
"Yeah, I did. Say, why don't you go downstairs and wash up and I'll get you something to eat," I suggested.
"Do I have to?" she asked me with those big blue eyes.
"You better, otherwise Dojo will come and burn your hands off." She got off me and raced out of the attic. I smiled as she left. "Yeah, with soot," I muttered. Then I went back to the photo album and turned the page and saw the picture of us while she was nine months pregnant and my hand was on her swollen belly. She was about to deliver in two weeks, but fate decided to do it early. Unfortunately, while she was giving birth, her womb got damaged in the process and the amniotic fluid entered her bloodstream. The doctors say it could've happened at anytime while she was delivering and that there was nothing they could do about it. She died the day our daughter was born.
I was distraught by the whole thing, everybody said that I looked dead myself after it had happened. How could I not, the love of my life died while a newborn came into my life. But when I held her in my arms for the first time, it was as if my love for her has been replaced by this small being. When the doctors asked me what her name was, I decided it would be Mirari. In Brazil, it means miracle.
I went out of the memory with a tear streamed down my cheek. I wiped it away and looked down at the picture.
"Oh Kimiko, if only you're here to see your daughter grow up," I said, the hurt plainly visible to my demeanor.
"Pai!" I heard Mirari shout up the stairs. I closed the photo album and put it away.
"I'm coming, sunshine!" I shouted back as I stepped through the attic door and closed it.
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Pai - Father
